warnings: strong language, distress
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vent writing

~*~

A message from Ponder: Come to the bedroom.

Muse knew already that something was very, very wrong, and this only solidified it. Ponder was terrifyingly silent, shrinking further and further into themself with every scoff, every lie, every misgendered pronoun and title from their grandmother and uncle. Muse was uncomfortable as well. No one seemed to appreciate the way they defended Ponder and themself or how they didn't laugh at the stories that were far more offensive than funny.

Without excusing themself, Rose stood and made their way to their and Ponder's bedroom. Ponder had presumably gone to the bathroom a few minutes prior, but they were now waiting for Muse in the corner of their room. On the floor around them was everything they had brought on the trip. Concerned, Muse shut the door behind them.

"What's going on?" they whispered. Every word could be heard through the entire house, making this nightmarish situation even more disturbing.

"Pack," Ponder ordered. Despite the quiet they were forced into, the intensity of their tone was clear. Their eyes were narrow and full of either terror or rage, perhaps both.

"What?"

"Get your shit, we're getting the hell out of here."

Ponder quickly started stuffing clothes into bags at random, putting things wherever they would fit and not bothering to fold or organize like usual. Muse hesitated for a moment, wondering if they should join them or try to talk them down.

"Hon, we're exhausted and gross."

"We can sleep and shower when we get home."

"It's a four hour drive."

"Then we'll sleep and shower in four hours." Ponder stopped packing for a moment and straightened up, meeting Muse's eyes. They no longer looked angry; their eyes and voice were filled with desperation. "I don't mean to be rude or controlling, Muse, but we need to leave now. Alright?"

Muse sighed and replayed the past day in their mind. Ponder hadn't slept the night before, hadn't eaten that morning, had barely said a word since they arrived. To see them act so dead and dispirited was unsettling to say the least. Aside from Ponder, Muse themself felt violated and offended. These people were somehow underhanded and manipulative yet blatantly disrespectful. Muse wasn't sure if they'd rather cuss them out or hide from them. Either way, they didn't want to be there anymore.

Muse started packing.

While the two packed, Ponder crafted a story sound and vague enough to get them out quickly and without much question. In five minutes, everything in the bedroom had been stuffed into bags. All that was left was their supplies in the bathroom and their food and medicine in the kitchen.

"If you'll get the stuff in the bathroom, I'll go get the food and medicine and tell them we're going," Ponder instructed. "Okay?"

"Okay," Muse nodded. Ponder started towards the door, but Muse grabbed their shoulder just before they reached the handle. Both of them stood in the intense silence for a few seconds.

"I'm sorry," Ponder sighed.

"No, no, it's okay." Muse kissed them on the cheek. "We're getting out of here, it's gonna be okay."

Ponder nodded and squeezed Muse's hand. They turned and swiftly made their way through the hallway and back to the kitchen to face the people they were running from.

"Guys," Ponder began, making sure the urgency in their voice came through loud and clear. "I'm sorry, we have to go. Muse's friend is in the hospital, we don't know what happened."

Each person around the table let out little mumbles and moans of concern. Ponder hid their disgusted face in the cabinet as they dug out the pill bottles and snacks they and Muse had brought. Someone asked when they were leaving, to which Ponder replied sternly, "Now," and stormed back into the bedroom with full arms.

Another five minutes, and everything was packed. Muse and Ponder threw bags over their shoulder and shoes on their feet and made their way to the door. Each relative attempted to hug them, express pity. To Ponder and Muse, they looked like demons, clawing and screaming, trying to pull escaped souls back into Hell. Neither accepted anything from any of them and tossed bag after bag into the back of their car without stopping once. When all the bags were in the car, they both went across the house once to be sure they didn't miss anything. If there was anything worse than having to stay a little longer, it was having to come back after tasting freedom. Marching past the demons, Muse and Ponder crossed the threshold and escaped to the car.

Once the doors were shut, Ponder wasted no time starting the car and pulling out of the driveway, speeding and kicking up gravel.

"Slow down, Ponder," Muse gasped as they glanced from the speedometer to the sign on the right of the road.

Ponder tightened their grip on the wheel and slowly eased off the gas. At the red light ahead, they slumped back into their seat.

"I'm so sorry, Muse," they sighed.

"Ponder, it's okay."

"No, it isn't!" Ponder screamed. The light turned green and they sat back up straight to continue driving. "This is ridiculous! I do this every fucking year, I come here and I try to have a grand ol' time and I put myself through this shit over and over and over again! Do you know what that is? That is the definition of insanity! And it's bad enough that I do it to myself, but now I loop you into this, this... AHH!" They punched the dash and jerked the car into a gas station. They swung into a parking spot, put the car in park, and curled in on themself. Returning with less anger and more defeat, they sobbed, "I should have known better than to put you through that."

"Ponder," Muse interrupted forcefully, unbuckling their seatbelt and leaning over to hold Ponder. "I know you just wanted to have a nice vacation, you wanted to bring me to the beach and make me happy. But it just didn't work out, you tried your best and they did their worse. What matters is that it's over, it's going to be okay now. Let's go home now. Let's actually have a good vacation. Watch some movies, eat some food. And on the way, we can listen to music. Does that sound good?"

Ponder gave a tiny smile. "That sounds great."